Perth based TetraMed, which holds approved licenses from seed to sale for medicinal cannabis, has announced that it is looking to raise a further $3 million to fuel growth as it seeks to capitalise on WA’s progressive medicinal cannabis regulations.
“We are seeing Perth rapidly becoming a centre for excellence for medicinal cannabis and bio-pharmaceutical sectors. TetraMed is collaborating with other entities in this space as we seek to take advantage of regulatory changes that are having a positive impact on investment and interest in this sector,” TetraMed CEO, Vince Falbo, said.
The aspiring biopharma company has been granted licenses to cultivate, manufacture, supply, distribute, export, import and transit cannabis and resin for medicinal and scientific use within the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) framework. The INCB is the independent and monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control convention.
TetraMed is seeking to become a vertically integrated medicinal cannabis business, that manages the entire value chain from ‘seed to sale’ – cultivation, through to extraction and high-grade pharmaceutical production.
“Once the cannabinoid medicines have been developed, they will be provided to pharmaceutical companies on exclusive manufacturing and distribution arrangements,” Falbo said.
The company’s initial projections have estimated production costs to be at $0.50 per gram, significantly lower than other medicinal cannabis producers that incur costs of around $1.00 per gram.
The global legal cannabis market is expected to be worth $100 billion by the end of 2025, with medicinal cannabis most commonly prescribed in herbal form, or processed as an oil for use as oral drops or in a capsule, for palliative care and those living with conditions such as cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
“TetraMed has been granted all the licenses required to legally cultivate cannabis and we have secured a supply agreement to sell medicinal cannabis into the European market. The next stage is to construct our production facility.” Falbo said.
The funds from the company’s initial raise will be used to commence construction of Phase 1 of the production facility at its site in Africa. Phase 1 will consist of a greenhouse and extraction facility with an annual production capacity of 4 tonnes of dry cannabis flower. Supporting infrastructure will also be constructed to enable rapid expansion of the production facility to 12 tonnes of annual capacity by the end of 2020.
The company is proposing a list on a stock exchange in 2020 and has already raised $3 million. It’s now seeking to raise an additional $3 million from a mix of sophisticated investors, complemented by an equity crowd sourced funding campaign. The minimum buy-in for the crowdfund raise is set at $420.
https://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/wa-becomes-hub-medicinal-cannabis-manufacture/
